[Archive 2020-09-02] Tributes paid to recently deceased US actor Chadwick Boseman

Historical archive — originally published 2020-09-02. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

Over the weekend, tributes were paid to US actor Chadwick Boseman, including Sunday's commercial-free airing of Black Panther and a special retrospective about Boseman entitled "A Tribute For a King" by American Broadcasting Company (ABC). Boseman died on Friday after being diagnosed with colon cancer four years earlier. Boseman, who rose to international fame for his title role in the 2018 Marvel superhero film Black Panther, was 43 years old.

Boseman died at home on August 28 in the company of his wife and family according to a statement posted to his official Twitter account. It also stated he was in stage IV of his cancer which had been diagnosed in 2016. His illness was not public information, even as he had undergone surgeries and chemotherapy to treat it, all the while continuing to work.

Boseman was born in South Carolina. He attended the British American Drama Academy (BADA) during his studies at Howard University from which he graduated in 2000. Early in his career, Boseman acted in television soap operas, however, his role as Jackie Robinson in film 42 was widely considered a breakthrough. He later played starring roles in other biographical films portraying James Brown in Get On Up and Thurgood Marshall in Marshall.

Boseman portrayed Black Panther, also known as King T'Challa, in four Marvel films. The first was Captain America: Civil War which preceded the aforementioned Black Panther film. Subsequently, he appeared in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

On Sunday, the MTV Video Music Awards also marked the passing of Boseman by dedicating the show to him. The audience was also shown a replay from the 2018 ceremony when Boseman gave his "Best Hero" award to James Shaw Jr. who disarmed a shooter at a restaurant in Tennessee.

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